I fell behind on this series the last few days so I’m finishing it off with a threesome of Cameron awesomeness. Avatar is now in theatres (many people have seen it the last two days), so go see the movie! I’ll be driving 10 hours tomorrow to see it at the nearest IMAX cinema, so I probably won’t have a review up until Monday.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Cameron staples: Tough woman, Nukes, Robots, Stan Winston effects
IMDB Rating: 8.5 (ranked #44 on the IMDB Top 250)
Academy Awards Nominations: Visual Effects (win), Cinematography, Sound (win), Sound Editing (win), Makeup (win), Film Editing, Cinematography
The other day I said that Aliens is one of two films that I consider to be the best action movies of all time. Terminator 2 is the other one. Every aspect of T2 is a huge step above the first film. The story is more logical, the action sequences are perfect and continue getting bigger in scope throughout the movie, and the film editing and cinematography work together to create a fast paced film that doesn’t let up for 137 minutes. And then there are the visual effects.
The visual effects were groundbreaking in 1991, inspiring future film-makers (Peter Jackson said that it was seeing T2 that made him realize it was possible to make Lord of the Rings) and setting new ground in the movie business. Unlike the badly aging visuals of the first Terminator, the sequel still looks good to this day. As an action movie, there are few that are as technically well-rounded as Terminator 2. Aliens is its equal, but I don’t think anything else comes close.
True Lies (1994)
Cameron staples: Nukes, Tough woman, Bill Paxton
IMDB Rating: 7.2
Academy Awards Nominations: Visual Effects
True Lies is probably my least favourite James Cameron film, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. It’s a very goofy action comedy that has all of the Cameron trademarks. It has the same cheesy story and script, good visual effects (in 1994), and insane action sequences. Watching it again this week I was reminded of how funny the film is, while still delivering intense action. Tom Arnold is hilarious, and Arnold has great chemistry with Jamie Lee Curtis. Bill Paxton is a riot in a glorified cameo role. Also, it was odd seeing Eliza Dushku (Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) playing the teenage daughter. She’s probably the weakest part of the movie, but she does her job. True Lies is too goofy to be taken as seriously as the rest of Cameron’s films, but it’s a fun ride none-the-less.
Titanic (1997)
Cameron staples: Tough woman, Bill Paxton
IMDB Rating: 7.3
Academy Awards Nominations: Best Picture (win), Director (win), Actress, Sup. Actress, Film Editing (win), Cinematography (win), Makeup, Art Direction (win), Costume Design (win), Sound Editing (win), Sound (win), Visual Effects (win), Original Score (win), Original Song (win)
I missed seeing Titanic in theatres because my parents were the only people on the planet who didn’t care about the movie. By the time I finally did see it on VHS I wasn’t even allowed to watch certain scenes because of the nudity and language. These factors meant that my enjoyment of the film was extremely limited. By the time I was an adult I began catching up on big movies I had missed seeing and was finally able to watch the film in its entirety. I liked it overall, but didn’t understand why it was so popular.
Over the years Titanic has gotten a slightly bad rep. I always hear complaints about it being the #1 all-time box office hit and the winner of the Best Picture oscar. I’ve slowly come around to defending the movie. No, I don’t think it actually deserved Best Picture in 1997, but I do think it’s an incredibly fun movie with stunning production values. The dialogue is cheesy and at some points the acting is over-the-top, but for the most part Titanic is beautiful to look at and the thrilling action sequences are top-notch. I believe Titanic deserved all of the Oscars it got with the exception of Best Picture.
January 3rd, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! I’m sure you had fun writing this article.
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Thruout the movie, I was momentarily jarred by most of the same things that were been discussed here, but for the most part, I dismissed them as my enjoyment continued. Even the heavy-handed depiction of commercialism or the over controlling were accepted as being a important section of the story.But there one technical thing that (oddly enough, I guess) irked me. I had no way to go back and view it after, but I’m pretty sure that when the Colonel was killed, he took his hands off the robot controls, trying to remove the arrow/bolt. Yet, with the Colonel’s death, the robot TOPPLED OVER! I would have expected such a machine just to simply stop moving and stand there.
February 8th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Throughout the film, I was momentarily jarred by many of the same things that were been discussed here, but for the most part, I dismissed them as my pleasure continued. Even the heavy-handed expression of commercialism or the over bearing were accepted as being a critical section of the film.But there one little issue that (oddly enough, I guess) irked me. There was no way to go back and view it after, but I’m pretty sure that when the Colonel was killed, he took his hands off the robot controls, trying to remove the arrow/bolt. Yet, with the Colonel’s death, the robot TOPPLED OVER! I would have expected such a machine just to simply stop moving and stand there.